Fresh cow mastitis monitoring on day 3 postpartum and its relationship to subsequent milk production

Abstract

The purpose was to determine the association of milk California Mastitis Test (CMT), somatic cell concentration (SCC), and milk differential cell count results on day 3 postcalving with subsequent lactation production and health events. On d 3 postcalving, the CMT was performed and quarter milk samples were collected from 130 dairy cows. Quarter SCC and milk differential cell counts were determined. Microbiology on duplicate quarter milk samples was used to determine the presence of intramammary infection by major or minor pathogens. Production measures obtained using Dairy Herd Improvement Association testing were 150-d standardized and summit milks. Milk culture results on a cow basis included 82 (63.1%) samples with no growth, 31 (23.9%) with major pathogens, and 17 (13.1%) with minor pathogens. Milk culture results comparing cows with no growth to those with any growth (major or minor pathogens) were not associated with statistically significant differences in milk production. Milk culture results comparing cows with major pathogens to those with no growth and minor pathogens combined were associated with statistically significant differences in 150 d milk. Milk production did not differ for cows with CMT results above and below a cut-off of trace, and for SCC results above and below cut-offs of 200,000, 300,000, and 400,000/mL, respectively. Statistically significant differences in milk production were found for cows above and below cut-offs for percentage neutrophils in milk and for absolute neutrophil counts. Associations were found for milk production and number of quarters (0, 1, 2, or 3 and 4 combined) above respective cut-offs for SCC, percentage neutrophils in milk, and absolute numbers of neutrophils in milk, but not for CMT. Milk production differed for cows experiencing any health event versus those with no health event. The most commonly recorded health event was clinical mastitis. Statistically significant associations were detected between health events and milk culture results, SCC, neutrophil percentage, and neutrophil absolute counts. Results of the present investigation indicate that milk monitoring on d 3 of lactation using milk neutrophil percentage or neutrophil absolute counts may be useful as an indication of subsequent milk production.

The major acute phase proteins of bovine milk in a commercial dairy herd

“…A value of 200,000 cells/ml has been suggested as a cut off point for separating healthy from mastitis affected milk [ 44 ]. Secondly, APP were also categorized to differentiate healthy from SM and CM with range of SCC <100,000 cells/ml (healthy), 101,000–200,000 cells/ml (SM) and >200,000 cells/ml (CM) as previously suggested [ 42 , 43 , 45 ]. Cut off values for SCC for use in diagnosis of mastitis has been a subject of debate [ 41 ] as it varies with different localities and type of milk samples (quarter, composite or bulk tank) [ 42 , 46 – 48 ].…”

Differential Somatic Cell Count as a Novel Indicator of Milk Quality in Dairy Cows

“…Moreover, following Zecconi et al [17], a threshold of 68.5% for DSCC was applied and, upon this, 4 classes were created. This threshold was identified by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) calculation curves and adopting a threshold of 200,000 cells/ml as a gold standard for SCC [25][26][27]. The 4 classes were created based on 5% or 10% deviance from the aforementioned threshold for the two middle classes, while the two extreme classes included the tails of the distribution.…”

Evaluation of the Udders Health Status through Somatic Cell Count and the Californian Mastitis Test in Algerian Dairy Farms

“…Although several methods have been developed for the diagnosis of sub-clinical mastitis (Lam et al, 2009), the California Mastitis Test (CMT) is a rapid and reliable test for determining of somatic cell concentration in milk (Anderson et al, 2010;Bastan et al, 2015) and therefore, the identification of unhealthy milk.…”